In the all-important sweeps
period, CBS decided that "Jesus" was more important than golf -- even though
that violated its contract with the PGA Tour.
CBS Sports pulled the plug
at about 6:40 p.m. EDT Sunday as the GTE
Byron Nelson Classic went to its third sudden-death playoff hole, fearing
another hole might run into prime time and throw off a schedule leading to the
highly hyped "Jesus" miniseries.
The last thing viewers in
every region but the West Coast saw was Jesper Parnevik and Davis Love III making
birdies on the second playoff hole, while Phil Mickelson lipped out his birdie
putt and was eliminated.
Parnevik defeated Love on
the next hole with a par. The tournament ended at 6:52 p.m.
"The PGA Tour is deeply
disappointed that golf fans in most areas of the country were deprive of the
ability to see the conclusion ... of a dramatic playoff," commissioner Tim Finchem
said in a statement.
"The tour is particularly
disappointed in light of the fact that the tour's contract with CBS requires
the network to stay with its tour coverage until at least 7 p.m."
Finchem said CBS has assured
the tour that such a violation won't be repeated.
"Nobody at CBS is happy
when something like that happens," said LeslieAnne Wade, vice president of communications
for CBS Sports, who spent most of today taking calls from golf fans.
Wade said the network gauged
how long it took to play the first two holes, and estimated that the third hole
would have gone past 7 p.m.
The sweeps period is critical,
because advertising rates are established based on this month's viewership. Golf
has a smaller audience compared to those who watch "60 Minutes."
CBS feared that if the third
playoff hole went beyond 7 p.m., viewers who tuned in for "60 minutes" might
go to another channel -- and likely stay there the rest of the night. Adding
to the dilemma was the fact the "Jesus" miniseries is a two-night program.
By contract, CBS cannot
bail out in the middle of a hole. It is required to continue with an extra hole
as long it begins before 7 p.m.
"Hindsight is everything,"
Wade said, offering more an explanation than an excuse. "If there was one stroke
left to resolve the tournament, we were not going to wait."
It could have been even
stickier.
Tiger Woods, who is invaluable
to golf ratings, had his lowest final-round score ever -- a 63, which included
another eagle from the fairway -- but missed the playoff by one stroke.
Would CBS had stayed if
Woods were in the playoff?
'It would have been an extra
question to look at,' Wade said. "I don't think in the end the answer would have
been any different. We had to join our prime-time schedule."
The overnight rating from
the nation's largest markets for the Nelson Classic was 4.0, up 25 percent from
last year. The overnight rating from "Jesus" was 15.0.
The rating is the percentage
of the nation's TV households tuned to a program.
